36 CFR 7.26 – Death Valley National Park
(a) Mining. Mining in Death Valley National Park is subject to the following regulations, which are prescribed to govern the surface use of claims therein:
Terms Used In 36 CFR 7.26
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
(1) The claim shall be occupied and used exclusively for mineral exploration and development and for no other purpose except that upon written permission of an authorized officer or employee of the National Park Service the surface of the claim may be used for other specified purposes, the use to be on such conditions and for such period as may be prescribed when permission is granted.
(2) The owner of the claim and all persons holding under him shall conform to all rules and regulations governing occupancy of the lands within the National Park.
(3) The use and occupancy of the surface of mining claims as prescribed in paragraphs (a) (1) and (2) of this section shall apply to all such claims located after the date of the act of June 13, 1933 (48 Stat. 139; 16 U.S.C. § 447), within the limits of the National Park as fixed by Proclamation No. 2028 of February 11, 1933, and enlarged by Proclamation No. 2228 of March 26, 1937, and to all mining claims on lands hereafter included in the National Park, located after such inclusion, so long as such claims are within the boundaries of said Park.
(4) Prospectors or miners shall not open or construct roads or vehicle trails without first obtaining written permission from an authorized officer or employee of the National Park Service. Applications for permits shall be accompanied by a map or sketch showing the location of the mining property to be served and the location of the proposed road or vehicle trail. The permit may be conditioned upon the permittee’s maintaining the road or trail in a passable condition as long as it is used by the permittee or his successors.
(5) From and after the date of publication of this section, no construction, development, or dumping upon any location or entry, lying wholly or partly within the areas set forth in paragraphs (a)(5) (i) to (iii) of this section, shall be undertaken until the plans for such construction, development, and dumping, insofar as the surface is affected thereby, shall have been first submitted to and approved in writing by an authorized officer or employee of the National Park Service:
(i) All land within 200 feet of the center-line of any public road.
(ii) All land within the smallest legal subdivision of the public land surveys containing a spring or water hole, or within one quarter of a mile thereof on unsurveyed public land.
(iii) All land within any site developed or approved for development by the National Park Service as a residential, administrative, or public campground site. Such sites shall include all land within the exterior boundaries thereof as conspicuously posted by the placing of an appropriate sign disclosing that the boundaries of the developed site are designated on a map of the site which will be available for inspection in the office of the Superintendent. If not so posted, such sites shall include all land within 1,000 feet of any Federally owned buildings, water and sewer systems, road loops, and camp tables and fireplaces set at designated camp sites.
(b) Use of water. No works or water system of any kind for the diversion, impoundment, appropriation, transmission, or other use of water shall be constructed on or across Park lands, including mining claims, without a permit approved by an authorized officer or employee of the National Park Service. Application for such permit shall be accompanied by plans of the proposed construction. The permit shall contain the following conditions: (1) No diversion and use of the water shall conflict with the paramount general public need for such water; (2) such water systems shall include taps or spigots at points to be prescribed by the Superintendent, for the convenience of the public; and (3) all appropriations of water, in compliance with the State water laws, shall be made for public use in the name of the United States and in accordance with instructions to be supplied by an authorized officer or employee of the National Park Service.
(c) Permits. Application for any permit required by this section shall be made through the Superintendent of the Park.
(d) Filing of copies of mining locations. From and after the publication of this paragraph, in order to facilitate the administration of the regulations in this part, copies of all mining locations filed in the Office of the County Recorder shall be furnished to the office of the Superintendent, Death Valley National Park, by the person filing the mining location in his own behalf or on behalf of any other person.
(e) Aircraft. The following are designated as locations where the operation of aircraft is allowed:
(1) Death Valley Airport, latitude 36°27?50? N., longitude 116°52?50? W.
(2) Stovepipe Wells Airport, latitude 36°36?15? N., longitude 117°09?30? W.
(3) Saline Valley Warm Springs Airfield, latitude N 36°48.41?, longitude W 117°46.90?.